The Economics of the Public Option: Evidence from Local Pharmaceutical Markets
研究智利公立药店进入地方市场的影响，发现公立药店以低价销售但质量较低，导致市场分割和私营部门涨价，整体上使消费者药品支出减少1.6%。
We study the effects of competition by state-owned firms, leveraging the decentralized entry of public pharmacies to local markets in Chile. Public pharmacies sell the same drugs at a third of private pharmacy prices, because of stronger upstream bargaining and market power in the private sector, but are of lower quality. Public pharmacies induced market segmentation and price increases in the private sector, which benefited the switchers to the public option but harmed the stayers. The countrywide entry of public pharmacies would reduce yearly consumer drug expenditure by 1.6 percent.